In 1996, the AFL named its ‘Team of the Century’ which sparked some heated debate.
The team represented those who the AFL believed represented the best the game had ever seen from 1896 to 1996, and brought together the following people to create the team.
Allen Aylett – 220 games for North Melbourne. North Melbourne President. President of the VFL.
Percy Beames – 213 games for Melbourne. 48 games as Melbourne coach. 30 years reporting on football for The Age.
Bob Davis – 116 games for Geelong. Prominent media member on the 1970s and 80s
Gerard Healy – 211 games for Melbourne and Sydney. Media analyst since 1990s.
Jack Irving – Umpire in the 1960s. Umpired two Grand Finals
Bill Jacobs – Commentator on 3AW Radio with Harry Bietzel through the 1970s and 80s
David Parkin – 211 games for Hawthorn. 518 games as coach of Hawthorn, Carlton and Fitzroy
Greg Hobbs – Prominent media member as part of The Sporting Globe, The Herald and the AFL Record through the 1960s, 70s and 80s
So, those were the blokes who selected the team, but we are now almost 29 years removed from those selections. How about a new Team of the All-Time? Given that no one who played in the first 30 years of the league made it into the original team, we’re actually starting to edge closer to 100 years of truly great players now.
But can we cram in all the greatness into one All-Time Team?
Well, firstly, we have to have a look at the team, and really, we have to be respectful of the selections that were made at the time. This is particularly important when it comes to players who were selected in a time before we got to watch footy. I mean, I am taking Bob Davis’ word that Bernie Smith was a gun, and unless there is someone absolutely outstanding to replace him, how can I question Davis’ wisdom?
BACKS
BERNIE SMITH (GEEL 48-58)
STEPHEN SILVAGNI (CAR 85-01)
JOHN NICHOLLS (CARL 57-74)
HALF BACKS
BRUCE DOULL (CARL 69-86)
TED WHITTEN (WB 51-70)
KEVIN MURRAY (FITZ 55-64, 67-74)
CENTRES
FRANCIS BOURKE (RICH 67-81)
IAN STEWART (ST K/RICH 63-75)
KEITH GREIG (NM 71-85)
HALF FORWARDS
ALEX JESAULENKO (CARL/ST K 67-81)
ROYCE HART (RICH 67-77)
DICK REYNOLDS (ESS 33-51)
FORWARDS
LEIGH MATTHEWS (HAW 69-85)
JOHN COLEMAN (ESS 49-54)
HAYDN BUNTON (FITZ 31-37, 42)
FOLLOWERS
GRAHAM FARMER (GEEL 62-67)
RON BARASSI (MELB/CARL 53-69)
BOB SKILTON (SWANS 56-71)
INTERCHANGE
GARY ABLETT SNR (HAW/GEEL 82, 84-96)
JACK DYER (RICH 31-49)
GREG WILLIAMS (GEEL/SWANS/CARL 84-97)
TWO SPACES UNFILLED UNDER MODERN TEAM SET-UP (Will come in pretty bloody handy! And I am not listing one as a sub, either)
COACH – NORM SMITH
The current set-up in the AFL allows four places on the bench and a substitute, it looks as though we’ve been thrown a bone immediately. We are able to add two players without removing any. Lucky, huh?
But that’s about where the luck ends.
When you’re looking at making a change, you have to look at the talent that missed out on a place in this team to begin with. If we’re thinking of adding more names to the mix, you have to understand those who missed selection the first time around to properly understand how difficult this process had to have been.
KEVIN BARTLETT – Best on ground in a second Grand Final before Norm Smith Medals were awarded, which would add his name to a very rare group of dual winners. Five premierships, five Jack Dyer Medals. AFL Legend Status
MALCOLM BLIGHT – One of my favourite players to watch – ever. Brownlow Medallist, Margarey Medallist, Coleman Medallist. AFL Legend Status
GARY DEMPSEY – Get this; Dempsey won a Brownlow, but also finished in the top ten overall an additional 12 times in his career. 13 times in the top ten in the Brownlow. I loved this guy when I was a little tacker watching North, and he was almost at the end then. Seven Best and Fairest awards as well.
TONY LOCKETT – Plugger probably missed due to the fact he was still running around at the point the team was announced, but keep reading. Things have changed. Had two Coleman Medals, three Best and Fairest Awards and three All-Australians when the team was selected, but added to those totals after the team was named.
ROBERT FLOWER – Often spoken about as the equal of Keith Greig, but failed to gain the awards, or flags, the North wingman did. Played in an inferior side his whole career.
SIMON MADDEN – The best ruck/forward I’ve seen. Could clunk marks and punish teams. Beautiful hands, brilliant ruckwork, and just a great all-round player. Six-time VFL team of the year (highest ever total), four Best and Fairest awards, three All-Australian selections and a Norm Smith Medal.
ROSS GLENDINNING – Brownlow Medallist, Inaugural West Coast Eagles captain and one of the best pure footballers I’ve ever seen.
If you judge the quality of the team by those who missed out, you quickly come to realise what a bloody good side it is.
And also how hard it would have been to select those in the team over those who missed out.
And we’re going to try and improve that team. Brilliant, huh?
Right, so I suppose the best way to go about this is to look at who the contenders are to legitimately challenge for a place in this team since selections were made, and who they could potentially replace.
WAYNE CAREY
The King. Seven All-Australians, four Best and Fairest Awards, Two MVP awards and a dual Premiership captain, make it really difficult to bypass him. One of the very few players that was able to turn a game by himself, and had he completed his career by the time this team was announced, we would have had him in.
But at whose expense?
Is the greatness of Carey enough to displace Royce Hart at centre half forward? My gut says yes it is, but it is worth examining further. To simply discount Hart’s influence on that Richmond team would be completely irresponsible.
Hart earned four flags from five attempts with the Tigers, and you cannot judge him on things like All-Australian selections as the process was dramatically shaken up at the start of the 90s, to the great benefit of modern players.
In terms of accolades, where Carey has it over Hart is in regard to the Best and Fairest awards, notching four to Hart’s two, but Hart’s performances in big games (Grand Finals) is where Hart reels him back in.
As great as Carey was, he really didn’t have a signature performance in a Grand Final, did he? He was serviceable, or even very good, but none of his three Grand Final appearances provided the sort of Wayne Carey games we came to expect from him.
But was Hart that much better?
In three Grand Finals, Carey averaged 19 disposals, 6.3 marks and 1.3 goals.
In comparison, Hart returned 18 disposals, 4.8 marks, and 2.4 goals per game in five Grand Finals.
This is tight, but when you have one player in the conversation about who the greatest of all time is, I don’t think you can discount him from the position he played so well.
TONY LOCKETT
Now, this comes down to simple mathematics, for me.
Coleman was a freak, and his six seasons in red and black saw him notch three centuries for a total of 537 goals. The award for the highest goal kicker of the season is named after him for God’s sake! He has one of the ends at the AFL’s own stadium named after him. Had he not injured his knee, he may be remembered as the greatest player to ever pull on the boots.
But he did get injured, and is not remembered as such.
And Tony Lockett happened along in the 80s and 90s.
The only man to top 1300 goals, and one of just six men to ever reach four figures, the man-mountain known as Tony Lockett has now gone past Coleman in terms of status. In 1996, Lockett added another All-Australian selection, and would do so again in 1998. He’d also add two more Coleman Medals, taking his tally to four.
In 1999, when Plugger kicked goal number 1300 to surpass the legendary Gordon Coventry, he put to rest discussion around the greatest full forward of all time. It was at that point that Lockett cemented his place in this team.
It is a case of ‘what could’ve been?’ with Coleman, but we are not awarding the place in this team based on ‘could haves’ or ‘should haves’.
Coleman played wonderful football for six years before injury cruelly robbed the football public of his brilliance. Lockett was in for the long haul.
GARY ABLETT JR
So, I suppose the question is who Gaz replaces, because with two Brownlows and a record five Most Valuable Player awards, it is pretty hard to refute his inclusion at this stage.
We could take the easy way out and throw him into the bench into that vacant spot alongside Greg Williams, but that would be making the assumption that either of the aforementioned players that were supplanted will be relegated from the team and not moved to the bench. It’s not that simple.
So, do we have to make the hard call on Ablett v Diesel? Do we shake the side up to omit someone else and allow both to have a place?
Let’s examine the first option.
Diesel played for 14 seasons, won two Brownlows, two MVP awards, a Norm Smith Medal and two Best and Fairest awards. He probably could have had a third Brownlow in 1993 but for a reputed dispute with a member of the umpiring fraternity who shall remain unnamed (John Russo).
Ablett played for 20 years. He has two Brownlow Medals, five MVP awards, eight All-Australian selections and six Best and Fairest awards, but you have to speculate as to whether his move to Gold Coast actually hindered his standing in the game – great numbers and awards on a team going nowhere?
Ablett has a career average of 25.26 touches and 1.26 goals per game.
Williams sits at 26.88 touches and 0.87 goals.
It’s close, and my preference is to try to fit both of them in. Let’s see how we go.
OTHERS PUSHING FOR A PLACE
LANCE FRANKLIN – I’m not sure about this one. A great player, and perhaps the best all-round forward of the modern era, but as a forward with peers already in the team like Ablett Snr, Coleman and Matthews, hurt him. If we’re looking at adding Lockett, how can Buddy make the team ahead of him? The short answer is – he cannot.
ADAM GOODES – Two Brownlows do it for ya? He could squeeze into this side, but I reckon the fact he played so many roles probably works against him. One Brownlow as a ruckman, and then played mid and half forward… I am pretty sure he is not going to displace Farmer as the first ruck, and I have something else in mind for the second ruck spot.
JAMES HIRD – Brownlow, Norm Smith, huge big-game player and one of the most adaptable players of all time. Did he do enough to sneak in on the bench, or push his way onto a half forward flank? Five All-Australians and five Best and Fairests
NATHAN BUCKLEY – Similar to Hird, Norm Smith, Brownlow and added seven All-Australian selections and six Best and Fairest awards… phew!
ANDREW MCLEOD – Two Norm Smith Medals, three Best and Fairest awards, five All-Australian selections and an MVP award… McLeod really had it all, didn’t he? Had he remained in the backline, could he have pushed Bernie Smith out of his position? His move to the midfield was necessary, but splitting time at different positions, whilst strengthening his overall standing, doesn’t allow for him to be allocated one role. So, Smith may have to stay put.
DUSTIN MARTIN – Three Norm Smith Medals. Far out… how do you go past this? He makes things very difficult. If reputations are made in finals, then how highly-regarded is the man known simply as ‘Dusty’?
And what of the current crop? Who could muscle their way into the side in just a few short years? What would a third Borwnlow mean to the career of Patrick Cripps? Or that of Lachie Neale? Will Nick Daicos continue his meteoric rise? Could Scott Pendlebury become the all-time games record holder?
THE REVISED ALL-TIME TEAM, SELECTED BY THE MONGREL
Using the 1996 team as our basis, and adding players from the last 28 years… here we go.
BACKS
FRANCIS BOURKE (RICH 67-81)
STEPHEN SILVAGNI (CAR 85-01L)
BERNIE SMITH (GEEL 48-58)
HALF BACKS
BRUCE DOULL (CARL 69-86)
TED WHITTEN (WB 51-70)
KEVIN MURRAY (LIONS 55-64, 67-74)
CENTRES
GARY ABLETT SNR (HAW/GEEL 82, 84-96)
IAN STEWART (ST K/RICH 63-75)
KEITH GREIG (NM 71-85)
HALF FORWARDS
ALEX JESAULENKO (CARL/ST K 67-81)
WAYNE CAREY (NM/ADEL 89-04)
DICK REYNOLDS (ESS 33-51)
FORWARDS
LEIGH MATTHEWS (HAW 69-85)
TONY LOCKETT (83-99, 02)
HAYDN BUNTON (FITZ 31-37, 42)
FOLLOWERS
GRAHAM FARMER (GEEL 62-67)
RON BARASSI (MELB/CARL 53-69)
BOB SKILTON (SWANS 56-71)
INTERCHANGE
JACK DYER (RICH 31-49)
GREG WILLIAMS (GEEL/SWANS/CARL 84-97)
JOHN NICHOLLS (CARL 57-74)
GARY ABLETT JUNIOR (GEEL/GOLD COAST 02-20)
ROYCE HART (RICH 67-77)
COACH – NORM SMITH
So, what’s happened in terms of moves within the team?
Francis Bourke has been moved from the wing to the back pocket. I know Bourke primarily played full back in the second half of his career, but a pocket role is probably more reflective of his versatility, especially considering he was on the wing in the original team.
This has allowed Gary Ablett Senior to move to the wing, where he played some blistering football earlier in his career, and it pushes John Nicholls to the bench, which is probably right as I am not sure how often Nicholls played back pocket. Happy to be corrected on that one, but most I have read states that Big Nick drifted forward just as much as he did back.
So, who moved into the team?
IN – WAYNE CAREY
This was tough. In modern football, the name ‘Carey’ embodies a few things, and whilst a couple of them may be negative, on-field brilliance is the one that stands out most to me. He was a man-mountain across half-forward, tearing games apart with bursts of scintillating footy, and established himself as the player of the decade in the 1990s.
Some call him that greatest of all time. On that basis, how could you possibly leave him out?
Carey’s insertion at the CHF position displaces Royce Hart, and pushes the Tiger legend to the bench. I have to say, I am a little relieved for the extra places in order to retain Hart. It just seems wrong to remove him.
IN – TONY LOCKETT
He is the greatest goal kicker of all time, and added an All-Australian in 1996 as well as another in 1998. It was the same case for Coleman Medals (96 and 98), as Plugger put separation between himself and Jason Dunstall in those last few seasons.
I know that some will dispute his inclusion as a result of who he replaces, but I am not sure Lockett can be denied.
IN – GARY ABLETT JUNIOR
Is there an argument that Gary Ablett Junior is the best player of the modern era? I reckon there is.
People dismiss him too readily, and may discount several years while he was “off-broadway” but numbers simply do not lie, and Gaz Jr is the most dominant statistical force on the history of the game. Go and take a gander at the all-time stat leaders. Ablett is a freak, and his influence on games is as good, or better than plenty on this team.
So, who has suffered for their inclusion?
Just the one… and I expect Bomber fans will not be pleased.
OUT – JOHN COLEMAN (ESS 49-54)
Yep, Bomber fans will not be happy, but the addition of Plugger has pushed Coleman out of the side. In a team where some players are compiling 20 year careers, Coleman played six seasons if you count the year he got hurt, and has half the goals of Ablett Senior, or Jason Dunstall, who also fails to make the team. I know Coleman is enormously popular, and has basically been canonised by footy followers for 80 years, but he played six seasons. Six!
But hey, there’s still a medal named after him.
And as for Dusty… well, I don’t think that it’ll sit right with Tiger fans, but I’d rather KB in the team over him.
So, there we go – overall three players moved into the mix, a couple had positional changes and we lost a great of the game from the mix. Were they the right calls? Did I botch them? What would you have done differently?
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